


SAM's Memories

by RiriYuki



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Bonding, Canonical Character Death, F/F, F/M, Forbidden Love, Late Night Conversations, M/M, One Shot Collection, Robotic Love, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 20:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10557038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiriYuki/pseuds/RiriYuki
Summary: SAM saves the memories of his late night talks with Ryder.  These are the files he will forever keep, even after Ryder is gone.Meant to be written along side the main story, when/if I ever write it.  But it will be able to stand alone.  Consider it one shots.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BitterRenegade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterRenegade/gifts).



> I do not own Mass Effect or Bioware. Ryder is from my own head and the ideas are mine.

“Sam, are you awake?”

“Yes, Pathfinder _._ ”

A soft growl is followed by an even softer sigh.  “Never mind.”

Lights brighten and the blue digital lights glow from Sara’s table, twitching in tune to the voice being emitted.  “Is there something on your mind?”

From the bed, the human Pathfinder sits up—not looking like herself. 

Liam had once asked if she kept anything from the Milky Way and she said yes.  Her over-sized night shirt is a gift from one of her previous birthdays.  Despite having gone to bed three hours ago, her blue-green eyes are sharp and alert, giving the electronic hologram an intense glare.  Her blue-dyed hair is down; a stark contrast from the constant ponytail she wears around the ship.  If compare to an image of the Pathfinder during the day, it would be hard to say the two people are the same.  But SAM recognizes the look she’s giving him.  It’s the look she usually gives Tenn.

“I hate when you call me that.”

“Is that what you wanted to tell me?” SAM asked immediately.

And she answers just as fast, with the addition of a tone.  “No.  I don’t want to tell you anymore because you were rude.”

“It was not my intent to offend.”  SAM came off as monotone, though he had meant to sound apologetic.

Ryder didn’t respond right away that time.  Instead, she fidgeted in her bed for the next couple of minutes.  SAM didn’t dim the lights, not a stranger to his human counter-part’s nighttime activities.  Instead, he switched from her desk to their private channel.  He did not fully understood why her heart would instantly calm every time he spoke through this channel, but he learned the trick on how to help the woman.

_What did you want to tell me, Sara?_

That was all it took to stop the human’s fidgeting and to coax her mind to focus on what started this midnight conversation.  “Can you see my memories?  Hear my thoughts?  Feel what I feel?”

_In that order?  Yes, with stipulations.  No.  Yes._

Sara giggled and rolled to her right side.  “Explain.”

_I can save the visions we see and replay them in the future, so the answer is yes._

“What about my childhood?” she quipped.

_I was not around during that time, thus I could not have seen it.  I only have the memories that your father has locked away and the few that he did not.  You, unfortunately, are not in many of them._

SAM felt Sara’s emotions shift towards that of sadness and he did not move to stop it.  Physically, she only sighed and pulled the blanket down to her waist.  “Dad didn’t spend a lot of time with Scott and me.  Between make you and putting us on the Milky Way’s black list, Dad tried to spend whatever time he had to be with mom.”

_I understand.  His desperation to save the one he love is what made him create me._

“Yeah.”

_But I failed.  Your mother died before we could create a cure, though your father had suspicions that we would not have made it in time._

“Mom would have died eventually…we can’t cheat death Sam.  No matter how hard we try.”

The sadness was growing and SAM felt the coding in him want to stop that emotion from taking over his counterpart, but he had learned from Alec.  Humans needed to feel sadness to cope.  But SAM wanted to ask Alec why is it different when it comes to his creator’s child?  Why is it, that when he feels her sadness it makes his coding irrelevant and he relies on his logic to make the sadness stop.  When Alec felt the sadness of his wife’s death, SAM offered the chance to dim the feelings but Alec declined and SAM did not think twice. 

For the quickest of seconds, SAM’s digital body glitched and went unnoticed.

_A neutron enters a bar and asks: “How much for a drink?”_

“What?”  The sadness slows down and SAM continues.

_The bartender replies: “For you, no charge.”_

Silence passed for a moment, long enough for SAM to wonder if he should defer to one of the jokes Alec had told him as reference for him to build his humor skill.  And then, he felt a strong spark of amusement flutter in Sara. 

“Did dad tell you that one?”

_No,_ he said almost like he was offended. _I have been practicing._

Sara laughed softly and wiped her eyes, settling back into the bed.  SAM, without command, dimmed the lights and turned off himself from the desk to dedicate himself solely to the private channel.  The Pathfinder did not find any of this alarming or even slightly concerning, as this was routine.

“Sam?”

It was the same every night since her father’s passing.  The sadness would never go away.  No matter what SAM could do, he was advised by Alec’s memory to let humans mourn in their ways.  But SAM apologized to Alec’s spirit, because Sara’s sadness was not something he could idly watch. 

_Yes, Sara?_

A smile is brought to her face as she closed her eyes.  “You’ll stay here tonight, right?”

_Always.  Sleep well, Sara._

“Good night.”


End file.
